♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. bain. in the neck. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews on the evening of the first primary in the country. the deconstruction of a careful candidacy. mitt romney has been running for president for years presenting himself with great care and discipline as a conservativeç businessman. a job creator.

but this week his republican rivals have begun to take apart that careful construction and career. to begin describing him as from massachusetts and make a living as a man who got rich running a business chop shop. a company that made money tearing companies apart. running up their debt and leaving them to die. suddenly, just since the weekend, romney's rivals are doing to him when they accuse him of doing to those businesses. take k them apart for their own good. romney didn't help himself saying, i like being able to fire people. pretending to have had an early life of the hard way of fearing the meat ax himself. but as rivals leds by newt gingrich deconstruct their front runner, they are taking apart the one candidate who can beat president obama. so as voters go to the polls today in new hampshire, they ask themselves, does this candidate care about people like me and you? and increasingly, that answer

has come out to be no from mitt romney. we start with the host of "morning joe." i want you to look at the latest numbers. you had had the numbers at breakfast. coming out the latest numbers. every day they come out. the latest. romney still well ahead at 37%. which would be a victory for him. but look at the jump jon huntsman has had. he's in third place with 16%. just behind ron paul. i guess it's a question of this state uniquely matters in terms of the spread. it seems like this and other states, who wins wins. up here you look against clinton. clinton was the comeback kid. same thing with mccarthy. if you stay within that spread, you win. what's going to happen? i mean how do we score it? >> this is going to state that

not only destroys presidential candidates, it destroys presidents. it destroyed lbj against mccarthy. 1992, pat buchanan took down the bush presidency. and those numbers that we saw just from this morning, the tracking poll, they seem like they came 72 hours ago because new hampshire, everything happens so fast. and you go out in the streets of manchester. you go around this building. people are talking about mitt romney's enforced errors. and the entire republican party seems to be on the cusp of a war against newt gingrich and mitt romney. >> you mean the regulars in the party? the protecters of the wagon train tend to be out there defending romney? >> people that believe in the free market. people that believe in free enterprise. champions of capitalism believe that newt gingrich has stepped over the line. but today is the revenge of

newt. we are running a new chapter in this republican party nomination. suddenly, mitt romney is not the favorite. >> newt gingrich seems to be offering himself up as the spear head of the obama reelection campaign. >> i think it's very ironic. i don't think a lot of voters are going to buy it. mitt romney needs a clean win tonight. after iowa. it's going to be a bloody road for mitt romney. especially because newt gingrich is going to zone in for the kill. >> the thing is, chris, the $5 million that newt spends on take ing apart bain capital, that may not help newt gingrich. but it sure is going to hurt mitt romney. think about it. the white house is going to get a chance to look at the ads. the $5 million spent.

they are going to get focus groups. >> let's talk about what he did himself. e yesterday in a speech where he talked about health insurance. mitt romney uttered a line that could delight both rivals now. certainly democrats down the road. let's watch what he said carefully. >> i want individuals to have their own insurance. that means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. that means, i like being able to fire people that provide services to me. if someone doesn't give me the good service i need, i'm going to get someone else to provide that service to me. >> let's talk about another line here on sunday. he told voters that he worried about getting fired himself several times in his career. this is more of a problem.ç let's listen.

>> i don't think he feels it. he experiences it the way you do by virtue of having lived in the real world. i know what it's like to worry about getting fired. >> well, it seems to me when you run for office in a rough environment, which i love campaigns for because they bring out two things. you overstate the truth. biden used to have this problem. you start to brag a bit. romney saying i faced the ax like regular people. the other is you tend to reveal aspect of your thought process. maybe it's, i know how to fire people. they may fire their insurance company. maybe their doctor. but they are not used to the words, i'd like to be able to fire people. you start on this. >> the second sound byte is more of a problem to me because it wasn't genuine. that's just not going to sell. that's what people are mising in him. a sense of a link. that byte is a problem. >> why do they do that?

>> it's forced. he's trying so hard to connect. it's not working. >> it's like trying to pick up a date, trying to make yourself more squash buckling than you are. >> especially when you're running for president. there's another line that you didn't -- that you guys didn't play. >> we'll get to it. >> we have a lot of time here. >> it was actually when mitt tried to clean up the first mistake he made talking about e heç liked firing people. he kept going on. he said what i was trying to say was, and he said, listen. do you think i sit around and obsess on how my words are going to impact people in this campaign? and of course, both of those were taken out of context. the more important point is though that suddenly, and jon huntsman hit on this this morning, suddenly, mitt romney is not looking like the most electable guy. >> the two most common defenses

politicians use over the years are, what i said was taken out of context. they are not going to give an auto biography. and the second is, i thought i was off the record. >> that one part is out of context. i think people really do understand that what he meant was ultimately, you should be able to if services aren't provided well. but here's the deal. >> i like being able to have the freedom to decide whether i want to get rid of my insurance company or not. >> it sounds harsh, but here's the thing. republicans are not going to rip him apart on this. they are going to do obama's work. it's a mistake. >> could it be that what he was caught doing is the way businessmen talk to each other? you're talking to businessmen, hard nosed business practices are applauded.

he was a real pain in the butt. i had to make the move on him. that's macho but when you're talking to regular people who get fired, who don't do the firing and have never fired a human being on their life and would cry if they had to do it, did he sound like a guy when he said what you say is out of context, did he sound like a guy that tries when he fires people? >> no. >> here's huckabee. i know huckabee you respect his political connection. 2008 when running against mitt romney in the republican primary, mike huckabee was known to say "i want to be a president who reminds you of the guy you work with and not the guy who laid you off." >> i remember that. >> mike huckabee misses being here. >> chris christie is a better guy defending romney than romney

is of defending romney. >> this has been a bad week for mitt romney. it started with chris christie coming up to campaign for him. one of the most fascinating things i have ever seen. mitt was the opening act for chris christie because they knew that chris christie was going to be a better speaker. >> let's not be too nasty. i have more people to come on. >> i want to ask you this. who comes in second tonight? bill snider, watch for three things tonight. who comes in first, who comes in second, and who comes in third? if it's ron paul, blah blah. if it's huntsman, he pulls the upset andç does deliver up her what happens? >> jon huntsman delivers up here. i think he comes in second. the bigger problem for mitt romney, who still is the front runner, we're picking him apart in a little too great of detail, but i think what happens is

huntsman has the ability to go o to south carolina and other states and take 10 points from mitt romney in south carolina. take 10 points from florida. >> go to his left. >> i don't know if jon huntsman can win in the south, but if you have newt gingrich having $5 million to attack from the right, and then you have huntsman going for the middle of the road vote, that's a problem. >> let me ask this. this is richer. if huntsman ran for president as the republican nominee, wouldn't he scare the bajesus out of obama? >> absolutely. the one candidate that really could take on the sitting president in every area where he's seen by many who voted for him as weak is jon huntsman. and everyone says he sold himself as a moderate. i don't think he was. i think he was trying to not sell himself with a label. he might be one of the most

conservative in the field. >> that was all yours. >> i just want to say huntsman is doing well. the only real event that i've been to that you and i would recognize as a primary rally in new hampshire this week, i think you can say it. last night. mitt romney had a thousand people in aç gymnasium. an overflow crowd. there are signs all over the place. we haven't seen that anywhere else. maybe they just bust um in. who knows. but you have to say mitt romney seems to be the only guy that has what it takes organization wise and money wise to go the distance. >> two months ago, we knew all this. >> but we're picking him apart. >> he's a classic republican candidate. coming back for a second trial. he's been to the super bowl. he's back. >> guys like mitt romney do win south carolina because they are the establishment. guys like mitt romney get disappointed in new hampshire, which is why we're talking about him this way in new hampshire.

>> thank you. i loved being on your show. >> i have to keep reminding myself, i'm on television. it's scary. as a reminder, mitt romney will be the guest tomorrow morning on "morning joe." >> coming up, why the attacks on mitt romney e over bain capital could stick and become the bain of his existence. they are turning it into a danger zone for him. that's ahead. you're watching "hardball" live from manchester on the night of the new hampshire primary. [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing? ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan

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welcome back to "hardball." mitt romney pitches himself as

the man who knows how to create jobs thanks to his time in the private sector. but his record at bain capital is coming under attack by some of his fellow republican candidates. a new documentary and new ads funded by a pro-gingrich super pack are promoted mitt romney as a corporate raider who tookç e over businesses and fired the employees of those businesses to make a profit for himself. the attacks are going after romney's main argument for his candidacy. the question is how damaging are they? and will they stick through november? john hollands and jeff zeleny. if you're david plouffe, you're smiling. you're thinking, my god. is god this great? is this just handed to me the charge by his fellow republicans, plural, that this guy is a corporate raider in our

midst? >> i have been wondering if people from chicago have been spending time in new hampshire working for the gingrich campaign. the reason they are perhaps more powerful or stinging is they are coming from newt gingrich himself. these ads are going to play, if mitt romney wins the nomination, in newt's own words. but the question is, there's a lot of backlash from republicans. from rush limbaugh. it is predictable. we'll see how the speaker gingrich comes out of here tonight. if he is limping out of here, the attacks are going to lose some steam. but the damage is done. they are on video tape. >> pigs squeal when they are stuck. generally, pigs squeal when they are stuck. all these people to the largest mouth on the right, the fact they are all coming outç togetr

as a chorus, we hurt. the wagon train is under attack. it is carrying them back into power if romney wins. >> there's a view about primaries. >> you remember the ted kennedy race against jimmy carter? it inflicted mortal damage. >> to attack carter from the left or romney from the right, this is attacking romney from the left. i understand. i'm saying right now the reason it's causing so much upset is the notion that newt gingrich is giving ammunition, arms to the enemy in this process. it's an interesting thing. romney backed himself into this corner. he's not wanted to take ownership of his record. he doesn't want to run as the former governor of massachusetts. all he wants to do is talk about

his business experience. he won't let them attack him on massachusetts. >> quite simply, for someone who hasn't been paying attention to american business, the purpose is to make money. nothing wrong with that. it's to make profit. businessmen are selling through their lobbyists that we are job creators. no country club memberships. they have nice homes, which is fine. but those are their motives. not job creation. >> i think john is right. he talked about himself as a businessman. forgetting about the governor, but votersç in new hampshire ty are completely familiar with his record as governor of massachusetts. a lot of them work there. i think the results here tonight are not going to be necessarily a view of things to come. but i'm not sure this is going to hurt mitt romney in the short-term. but the long-term, maybe. >> take out the regional.

assume he wins on points. the way it's going to be recorded, i think, does newt survive? where he was in iowa, does he come back with a decent number? does santorum survive? does huntsman do better than that? will the pack that's out to get him survive here to go to south carolina? >> look. newt gingrich is a unique figure in the republican party in the sense that unlike everyone else in this race, he can go all the way to june. even if he has no money. he has 98% name recognition. he's got money on the super pack side and also he doesn't need to be on the air. he gets a lot of free media attention. what deters him from going on? >> here's david axelrod. the ghost of christmas yet to come. here he is echoing the attack coming from newt and other republicans. let's watch the president's media advisor.

let's watch. >> let's talk about bain and let's talk about what it was. his partner said our job was not to create jobs. our job was to create wealth for our çpartners. i don't think those are the values people want to animate. he's not a job creator. he's a corporate raider. >> business says i want to put businessmen in authority. it doesn't crosswalk. the values of business can be disguised as job creation, but they aren't. >> i think it all depends what the real jobs numbers are here. if they are better and president obama show -- >> who is going to do the best? >> the wall street journal had a good act of it yesterday. if he's doing well in the fall, if jobs have been created, it's going to change the calculous. it's too early to be very productive. >> i didn't think we would look in the bullpen. not just the president's record,

but look at the guy challenging the record. this is the first time we're doing that. >> exactly what they want. they want a choice election. this is a populous moment in america. we have the tea party people. the republican party has become a blue-collar party. it make it is hard to be a guy who is not actually an entrepreneur or even a ceo. he's a financer. >> i hope this is getting as exciting as we say it is. thank you, john. thank you, jeff. there are important questions. up next, when mitt romney says he likes being able to fire people. that's not out of context. that's what he said. did that tellç you more about m than he wanted us to know? you're watching "hardball."

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back to "hardball." let's get another look at that mitt romney point when he spoke the seven words that dominate the republican discussion ever since. i like being able to fire people. here he is in full comment. >> i want individuals to have their own insurance. that means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. it also means, if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. i like being able to fire people who provide service to me. i want to say that i'm going to get someone else to provide that service to me. >> the sound of a guy slipping into quick sand. those words have become very important for republicans.

rick perry made them into a ring tone. let's listen to his phone people. >> i like being able to fire people. i like being able to fire people. >> wow. if you're the candidate strategist, how do you handle this kind of problem? and if you're the opposition, how do you make the best use of it? joining me is todd harris. you're on the republican side. is this something he should continue to try to squirm out of? or accept i'm a hard-nosed businessman. the kind that has to fire the useless people. >> these may be the seven words dominating the discussion, but as steve knows, the six words that every consultant hates to have to utve$ is what the candidate meant to say is. >> by the way, what did he mean? what did he mean when he said i

like to be able to fire people? >> i think it's a totally legitimate point. i loved the day i could get rid of my wireless cell provider and switch to another one. the first one was terrible. and i fired um. i got a new one. i loved being able to do that. >> he said people. i like to be able to fire people. >> corporations are people. i fired them. >> i forgot. drop it or keep fighting it? >> keep fighting it. if you're explaining, you're losing. make the point that you were trying to make. >> firing bad providers. >> reduce government, that means get rid of whole department. that means getting rid of people. in order to have a government that's accountable, that's what we'll have to do. >> steve, i think it's usable. >> it's absolutely usable. probably not just in it one ad,

but a series of ads. when mitt romney complains after the first ad runs it was taken out of context, then the conversation becomes what context do you like firing people? did you like firing jim jones when you lined your pockets with $180 million on a $30 million investment? did you like laying off mrs. jones while you guys walked away with tens of millions of dollars. it feeds the underlying narrative and the concern people have aboutç mitt romney. which takes you to what kind of an economy would we have under a mitt romney that works for venture capitalists and people who hollow out companies and send jobs overseas? does he care about people like me? that's the question. >> by the way, you don't worry about that? >> i think if they could take it back, they would. >> it's the comment that can cut through wounds of campaign ads. mounds of them. and hours of campaign to set a

narrative for a candidate. here's mitt romney casually betting rick perry. >> i'm just saying. you were for individual mandates, my friend. >> you raised that it before, rick. >> it was true then. it's true now. >> $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> okay. >> newt gingrich is spending, he's no regular joe. >> you owned between $250,000 to a jewelry company. >> it's about obeying the law. >> did you half a half million dollars to a jewelry company? >> we e had a revolving fund. >> what does that mean? >> it means we had a revolving

fund. >> go talk to tiffany's. >> someone would run up a half million dollar bill atç a jewey store. >> go talk to tiffany's. >> you're running for president. you're going to be in charge of the treasury department. it sticks out like a sore thumb. >> then obama's characterization of people struggling in steel belt towns was a hit. let's listen to this. this hurt obama. still does. >> each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. so it's not surprising then that they get better and they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. >> that hit most of us as quite

elitist. the first president bush said he was out of touch when he was baffled by the usual scanner you see at the safeway checkout counter. i love it because campaigns get rough and tumble and politicians can't think fast enough. >> it's always in the unscripted moments when candidates make the biggest gaps. it's rarely in a debate setting or on "meet the press." it's always -- >> it's better to be able to take words back. >> they would probably like a do over. >> thank you. he always admits when he's hit. steve mcman, he just said he got you. gunsç and religion. the worst comment of the campaign by obama. do you agree? >> it was a rough moment for him. and they did pay dearly.

probably the pry mire season. >> they didn't like that in pennsylvania. thank you. great guys. thank you. up next, as the republicans all pound mitt romney, should democrats be gleeful? you're watching "hardball" live from manchester for the new hampshire primary, which happens to be done tonight at 8:00. here with msnbc doing the best coverage. this is an rc robotic claw. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

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i'm jane wells with your market wrap. the dow finishing up 69 points. the s&p gains 11. a short time ago, cnbc broke the news that michael williams is stepping down. the mortgage giant has been

struggling under conservatorship. luxury retail was a bright spot. now tiffany's says shopping was weak over the holiday. the company cut its full year earnings forecast sending shares down about 10%. hard hit kodak says their realigned business structure to cut costs. they are suing apple. the heavily-pummelled stock gained 50%. and google is trying to make sure results are more personalized to provide better results. the new personal touches were announced today to a big yawn from investors. shares ended up only a little. that's it from cnbc. now back to "hardball."ç

welcome back to "hardball." while we have been focused on how the primary will shake out and who will be happiest with the results, the people may be happiest with the outcome may be president obama and the democrats. newt gingrich's pack has taken romney to task over his experience with bain capital. the rest of the candidates have begun to follow suit. looking ahead to south carolina, gingrich is set to release the film down there on bain capital. he's spending $3 million on ads in south carolina. it's going to be serious stuff. is the gop playing right into the democrats' hands? joining me to talk about this is senator jeanne chaheen and dana mil bank. there's so much going on here. history is at your back. you guys in new hampshire know your role.

but the role you may be playing is to be fashioning the democratic strategy for the fall. this guy claims to be a job creator. senator. >> you know, anybody who watched mitt romney's campaign against ted kennedy in 1994 can't be surprised that this is the approach that's being taken. those people who were laidç of as a result of bain capital were interviewed. that's what defeated him in that senate race. >> i remember those ads. why are they going back to their it proven weak spot, everybody knows you get good suits and nice money for your family not from being nice to people necessarily, but making a lot of money. you don't make a ton of money doing good deeds. >> they sort of got down to the desperation level.

so here we are in new hampshire -- >> to resort to the truth? >> they are literally point painting him like the monopoly man. he's looking like a parody. i suspect what's good for romney is they don't have long to do this. >> what i like is it's perfectly what president obama has set out to make his campaign for reelection about. that certain businesses are manipulative. they grab the money and don't create anything. here's his speech from kansas. it sounds like a direct attack on romney. listen to the president here. >> there were people who thought massive inequality and exploitation of people was just the price you pay for progress. theodore roosevelt disagreed. he believe then what we know is true today. the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history.

it's led to a prosperity and a standard of living unmatched by the rest of the world. but rooseveltç also knew that e free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from whoever you can. [ applause ] >> there he is, dana, saying there's ways to make money that are legitimate. as long as you're making something, the american people benefit. but when you're just making money off money, wall street, in other words. >> it's not as if obama has done anything brilliant. he stumbled into this position with good fortune because of what the republicans have been doing. and they have left him in the position of sort of -- this isn't is a socialist position. it's the mainstream against some guy who runs around saying i enjoy firing people. >> but it is about what kind of policies you put in place to

create jobs. the auto industry is a perfect example. president obama against a lot of opposition supported rescuing the auto industry. mitt romney said he wouldn't have done that. and here in new hampshire, we have over 20,000 jobs that are based oven on the auto industry. millions across the country. as the president points out, it really is about the policies that you put in place. >> that's so well said. i never thought of the auto industry. the businessman mitt romney says let them die. it's like here it is. rush limbaugh went on the attack. here it is. it's a page straight out of the democratic page book. limbaugh accusing newt gingrich book. >> he's laying into romney the way that democrats are going to. bain capital is going to be the

hal betteren of 2012 if romney does get the nomination. newt's ad looks like something the democratic national committee will put out. i think -- just like -- i didn't like in 2000 when george w. bush said he wasn't going to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. newt is using the language of the lift in going after romney on bain capital. that makes me uncomfortable. >> the underwater walrus is now very concerned about the republican party wagon train, if you will, because he sees it under attack. and pigs tend to squeal when they get stuck. >> well, look. with you're running for office, whether it's city council or the president of the united states, you have to take responsibility for what you have done for the

work you have done, for what you say, and this is part of it. it's part of running for office. >> he has to pay for his performance. >> absolutely. >> well said. thank you. thank you for being here. i love this state. we weren't rich. we stayed in an old farmhouse. thank you both. up next,ç what to watch for tonight. it's not just about who wins. the spread matters up here. how does romney do on his home turf? and who comes in second? that's a biggie tonight. i'm watching huntsman. i'm rooting for him. i want some excitement up here. this is "hardball" live in manchester for the big exciting conclusion to this primary tonight only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool

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we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. back to "hardball." there's people voting now. minutes away from the kickoff of msnbc's primary coverage. what will experts be looking for tonight and what can you keep an eye on as we watch the coverage tonight? jennifer donnie is a contributor to "the huffington post." and alex burns is a national political reporter. alex, you don't do the show often. i'm going to give you the leadoff. what does romney have to do to get the magic title?

what number does he need to be called the winner? >> his campaign would say all he has to do is get more than eight votes. realistically, he needs to win by a pretty solid 13. >> ç30? >> pretty feeble. his vote total? i think if he gets 36 or higher, he is probably pretty safe f he gets 38 that is the number mccain got, certainly over 40, doesn't matter. >> midhigh 30s safe ground for him? less than that, he blew it or lost? >> he got 32 last time, the closer he gets to that number, the more embarrassing it s. >> he because he didn't whip last time? >> yes. >> jennifer donahue, what number does he need to get? you say 37, 38 safe ground for him? >> 35, i think, the real vase for second. slow down. slow down, basically, you both agree, if he comes out 35 or above, he can't really get embarrassed, local papers support him, "new york times," just a bit democratic in its

thinking say he did okay? >> i think that's absolutely right. >> number two and how important it is if ron paul, who leads faction of libertarians, an effective one, if he comes in second, does that mean anything? >> no, it means nothing because he can't go anywhere from here but if huntsman comes in second and the movement right now is for huntsman, the only major candidate who hasn't surged and he is surging. today, i talked to a lot of people who were for romney, switching their votes for huntsman. they think romney has a solid enough lead, they want to send a message about civility. they want to send a message about -- >> i would do that i'm a new hampshirite, that is what i would do. >> ron paul, if he comes in a decent second mid-20%, 22 or higher that does give him a shot. >> what does it give him a shot to do? >> his supporters say campaign will compete in all 50 states, i think if he continually had the high wa experience, polling pretty well, looking like a real

con tender, falling short, people tired of that quickly. >> what good does it do if he is a libertarian, against all these wars, doesn't believe in going to war with iran, for example, under any circumstances, how does that change the policy of mitt romney if he is the winner? >> i think ron paul coming in a strong second in new hampshire show supporters may not be a powerful, decisive faction of the republican party but they are a real constituency. >> influence -- >> his whole idea is take the delegates into the convention, affect the platform, affect the speaking order. >> let's get serious, affect the foreign policy platform or wars? >> not get mitt romney to say come home america. >> that's what i'm asking. asking every one of his people. >> there is nothing that ron paul can do to be relevant in this race except he can deny romney a big win and deny huntsman continuing legs in this race. >> your thoughts about huntsman, should he come in second tonight, significance of that? >> that super pac of his will get an infusion of cash. >> that is going to come true. >> you said it and then have

money to run ads in south carolina. if he proves that he has some kind of legs in south carolina, they can run ads. >> the race for a second is really important because last three presidents have come in second in new hampshire that is president clinton, president bush and president obama. so, the race for second matters, rom think? a front-runner could stumble and we look to who is second. >> to me only one guy with fire power, i hate ballistic references, that is newt. the only guy the venom in him to go after romney and follow him all the way to june, perhaps the con vention. what does he have to do tonight to stay in this race against romney, even vegas? >> i think if heç comes in fif, tough if he comes in a distant fourth. he said today he has to win south carolina. >> fourth good enough for him? four's good enough for him? >> if it is double digits. >> think four is the good enough for gingrich, the question voters i'm hearing saying today, which newt gingrich is this it that shows up, the undies lynned, unruly angry gingrich we saw this week? >> they are the kind i like. you like them, too, disciplined

anding an debris is a great combination. santorum comes in fifth say he should have skipped new hampshire and gone straight to south carolina and try to defend off perry and romney in south carolina. >> i think newt is going to matter in south carolina because he is going to spend $3 million down there attacking perhaps destroying as best he can romney. thank you, alex. i agree with everything you said. thank you, you are right. jennifer done human. when we return, let me finish with how would vote for here in new hampshire, sort of interesting to me here at least. you are watching "hardball," only on msnbc. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years.

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let me finish tonight with this. i'm looking for greatness tonight, i always am up here in new hampshire, they have a ability to say something today, something really important. i know what i would do i would vote for huntsman. i would do it to send a message to the polls in both parties, i would do it to say the political moderation is not a crime, that there has to be a home for both parties. i do it to say many smart, good, insightful americans of good faith and values stand between the 40 yard lines a bit to the right, a bit to the left and they need to have a champion, at least long enough to get their point across. i think huntsman delivered the one truly memorable statement of this entire campaign. he called out mitt romney for saying there was something wrong with him for serving as american ambassador to china under

president obama. he said it was just the attitude causing all the division in this country. i think that line of his could well go down in history. it will certainly make the books written about this campaign. i want new hampshire to do what it does best, send a signal of gritty independence, to say -- the conversation so far happens been sober enough, smart enough, realistic enough about our next president. romney may well win tonight. he is from around here. has a house here. but he is not a real new englander, he flips around too much. not rooted in belief or passion. i heard it said that every great leader has three great qualities, all obvious to the voter. motive, we need to know where he or she stands, why they are in public life in the first place. passion, we need to know what they care about what makes them care what brings out their emotions what drives them in their spirit. spontaneity. are the lights on? is someone home? can they react to the surprising statement or challenge or moment? in none of these areas, motive, passion or spopt neighity do i find mitt romney's